|
Network
Services cracks down on file sharing in
dorms
By
Matt Sun
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
During
a time when music defines culture, downloading
music has taken on a tradition of its own.
Here at Cal State Long Beach, measures have
recently been taken to stop the vast music
downloading that occurs on campus. Although
there are still programs being used, technicians
have clamped down on the amount of peer-to-peer
file sharing. Kazaa and WinMX are some of
the few programs that have been disabled
to prevent continuous music downloading,
especially in the dorms.
A
Google search of music downloading produces
more than 30 million results. Many offer
Web sites where people can buy albums or
singles from their favorite bands and artists.
However,
countless sites provide programs that support
peer-to-peer file sharing. Such programs
have caused many problems, especially potential
lawsuits by the Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA), but last year a smaller-scale
problem emerged at the dorms: too much bandwidth
was being used, causing outrage by dorm
residents who complained of slow Internet
speeds.
In
an attempt to alleviate the problem, Assistant
Housing Director Elson Browne and Network
Services cracked down on peer-to-peer file
sharing with a heavy hand.
"With
so much file sharing going on, there was
no bandwidth left for other students to
go online to Beachboard or MyCSULB, so we
had to react to the problem," Browne
said.
Despite
reducing the internet congestion in the
dorms, many students are disgruntled by
the new measures taken.
C.J.
Lee, a freshman dorming in Parkside Commons,
finds it unnecessary to put restrictions
on file sharing.
"It
is definitely harder to download now in
the dorms. File sharing doesn't hurt the
bands as much as the [RIAA] claims,"
Lee said. "Actually, in my case, it
helps the bands. I download a CD by the
band and if I like the CD, I will go buy
it. If I only like one song, however, there
is no point in wasting money on a whole
CD."
Other
residents, such as Tuck Tennant in Parkside,
share the same view about downloading music.
"Music
downloading should be legal because there
is no point in making something so widespread
illegal. Friends share music with each other
all the time," Tennant said. "Although
bands are losing profit, file sharing increases
their popularity. Downloading music in the
dorms is harder, but it's fair."
Since
June 25, 2003, when RIAA announced its intent
to sue users of peer-to-peer systems, music
downloading has become more low profile,
but still retains its prominence in society.
"The
hardest thing to maintain a proper control
over the bandwidth is to make sure all 2,000
students in the dorms comply," Browne
said. "Everyone should be paid for
their work. If you paint a picture you deserve
to be paid for it."
When
asked whether all programs will be completely
blocked from the network at CSULB, Browne
merely states that there "will always
be something out there. Our only goal is
to make sure there is enough bandwidth.
If a peer-to-peer system is causing a problem,
then we will react to it. Other than that,
we will not touch that program."
|
